A Willowbrook woman who was brutalized in her family home by a stranger told a DuPage County court Thursday that she still bears many scars from that day, but the experience hasn’t broken her.

Testifying at the sentencing for Londale Madison, Melissa Schuster read a six-minute statement that recounted her daily pain since the Aug. 29, 2015, attack, but also shed light on her determination to make some good come from her situation.

“I was determined to pick myself up after and become stronger through the fear,” Schuster said, “just like I was determined to survive the defendant’s attack.”

The Tribune generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but Schuster has spoken publicly about her ordeal and identified herself as the victim of the attack.

Her victim-impact statement was the emotional center of a lengthy hearing, which culminated with Judge George Bakalis sentencing Madison to 68 years in prison on charges of attempted murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault, home invasion and armed robbery.

“He’s a person without a moral compass who can’t distinguish between right and wrong,” Bakalis said.

DuPage County Jail

Londale Madison.

Londale Madison. (DuPage County Jail)

Madison, 34, a South Bend, Ind., resident, had come to the Chicago area to visit an uncle and on that Saturday afternoon had randomly encountered Schuster, then 26, in the driveway of her family home. Her parents and siblings were out and Schuster was home alone.

Madison asked her for money for gas, and she declined. She then went inside and locked the front door, but Madison knocked minutes later, asking to use the phone. When Schuster told him to go to a strip mall down the block, he became enraged and kicked down the door.

He began beating Schuster, dragged her upstairs to a bathroom, where he sexually assaulted her, then brought her downstairs again and stabbed her more than a dozen times. When Madison left her alone to look for money, Schuster ran to a neighbor’s for help. Madison fled but was apprehended several days later in South Bend.

Prosecutors described Madison as someone who has routinely resorted to violence throughout his life. A police officer from New Albany, Ind., testified that in 2003 a man accidentally ran over Madison’s toy car, prompting Madison to strike the man so forcefully that the victim spent six days in a coma.

“If evil can be personified, if a man can be a weapon, then that’s what this defendant is,” Assistant State’s Attorney Jen Lindt said in asking the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 100 years.

Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune

Melissa Schuster, 29, who was sexually assaulted and stabbed 17 times during a home invasion in 2015, is flanked by her parents outside the DuPage County Courthouse, Nov. 9, 2017, following the sentencing of Londale Madison.

Melissa Schuster, 29, who was sexually assaulted and stabbed 17 times during a home invasion in 2015, is flanked by her parents outside the DuPage County Courthouse, Nov. 9, 2017, following the sentencing of Londale Madison.

(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Madison gave a tearful apology.

“I hate myself for what I did to Melissa, so I can’t imagine how she feels,” he said, nonetheless describing himself as “a people person” who always tried to be nice.

After the hearing, Schuster and her parents, Paul and Tonie Schuster, said they were pleased the judge had handed down a sentence that will likely keep Madison in prison for the rest of his life.

Schuster has become an advocate for assault victims, telling her story in hopes of helping others.

“Some days it’s harder. Other days it’s easier because I know I’m impacting other people’s lives,” she said. “I can be a voice for people who don’t have a voice for something like this.”

Although the effects of the attack linger, Schuster said, her faith gives her strength. Trigger, the 100-pound German shepherd that is her companion, helps too, she said.

State’s Attorney Robert Berlin lauded the judge’s sentence and gave credit to Schuster for her strength.

“(She) is a hero — that’s the best description I can give,” Berlin said.

Under sentencing guidelines, Madison will have to serve 57 years in prison before he could be eligible for parole.